Issue 58 - Captain Fantastic

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Captain Fantastic

On his last day as Editor of Whisky Magazine,we sat Dominic Roskrow with a special whisky and let him speak to one of his sporting heroes, All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick

As one of the greatest rugby union players of all time, former Auckland and All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick has faced some intimidating situations.

But nothing – not the South African front row, the powerhouse that is Martin Johnson, or the baying of 80,000 passionate rugby fans – has scared him quite as much as teeing off at the first hole at St Andrews Old Course.

“Playing international rugby in front of a full stadium is a walk in the park compared to playing in the Dunhill Links Championship,” he says. “At the Old Course you're in front of the clubhouse and it's totally nerveracking.

I'm outside my comfort zone and that's tough.” Fitzpatrick, who retired from rugby in 1998 after a staggering 92 tests for the All Blacks, more than 50 as captain, is in Scotland in October to compete in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships for the third time. It's a tournament that partners professional players with talented amateur players over three world class Scottish courses.

For Fitzpatrick it's become an important date in the diary, for several reasons.

“I guess the great thing about what we do is we're fortunate enough to get the chance to do wonderful things and to see great places.

“Scotland is like that. It's the home of golf and it's the most wonderful place.

Whenever my wife and I come up to Scotland we meet fantastic people. So much so that we realise that every person we met we liked. We have such a great time there.” Home these days is close to W...